BJ Penn accuses Zuffa of script writing

The unfortunate thing about the hastily-reassigned BJ Penn vs Nick Diaz fight is that it reduces the time for us to bask in the combined wackyness of these guys. Worse, they apparently like and respect each other, so instead of what could’ve been some golden back-and-forth headcasey shit-talking, we get boring headcasey mutual respect.

It shouldn’t surprise too many fans to hear that Zuffa and/or Spike sometimes employ creative editing or tell people to say certain things in order to craft their calculated storyline. Anyone with half a brain knows that’s par for the course for “reality TV”, and sports promotion/media in general. BJ has complained about this kind of thing before, and in the video blog above, he claims he was straight-up told to say specific stuff about Nick Diaz during the re-taping of the “Countdown to UFC 137″ show. Due to BJ’s respect for his fellow grappler/scrapper/pothead/man-child, this did not sit well with him.

So what was the script he was ordered to read? Check out this epic dirt:

They forced me to say, at the end of the whole thing, they forced me to say… “You gotta say Nick Diaz’s name now,” they’re like, “You gotta say his name.” And I was like, “What?” They were like, “Say you’re gonna beat Nick Diaz. Say you’re gonna beat Nick Diaz.” And I said, “I’m gonna beat Nick Diaz.”

Wait… what? That’s it?

I wish, if I was reading it more smart, I would have said, “My hand is gonna be raised, at UFC 137 my hand will be raised.” I dunno if they’re gonna come back and try to show Nick Diaz that, I don’t know what’s going on with that.…I kinda feel for him, because I was in the Primetime, and they made me the bad guy, and they made the other guy, which was obviously GSP on the other side, the good guy. I think if Diaz would’ve been in that Primetime, they would’ve tried to make him the “Mr Evil” and this and that. Diaz is an intense guy, he says what’s on his mind, and if they edit that stuff, they can really try to turn it around on him.…Bottom line, at the end of the day we gotta fight, I have to do a fight at UFC 137, and I just don’t want it to be built up off of BS, you know what I mean? I’m not sitting there every day saying I’m gonna beat Nick Diaz, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that. If it goes down, it’s because it got all put together, but let’s not have it about a bunch of BS.

Wow, you really blew the lid off this conspiracy, Beej. I guess it didn’t occur to him that maybe they were just establishing proof that they’re not recycling interview clips from the previously-recorded Penn vs Condit show. And if the best shit-talking script that the Zuffa production team can come up with is “I’m going to beat _____” then they seriously need some new writers.

As for how saying “my hand will be raised” is somehow fundamentally different, all I can think of is that it doesn’t specifically state your opponent’s name, or specify that you’ll win. So does that mean he’ll raise his hand even if he loses? Merely saying you’ll defeat your opponent is disrespectful now? Who the fuck knows. I have to assume that this shit is on that frequency that only other headcases can understand, kinda like a dog whistle.

Then the interviewer says at the end, “It shouldn’t be personal, it’s business,” and BJ’s like, “That’s it.” I guess they both forgot about that time he said GSP’s a quitter and a little bitch, and that he’s going to fight to the death, he’s coming to kill him, he’s not joking about this.

Props to MMA Mania (who are apparently buying what BJ’s selling) for the find.

Did they not explain 15, 30 , and 60 second spots for the show where they need each guy to market the other guy? Or worse, did they not explain it and not give him an option to talk about Nick naturally?

frickshun

I actually got transcripts of the edited & raw feed from Beej….
Raw feed: I will not lie. I respect the fuck out of Nick. He gets his ass in the gym 7 days a week and works harder than ever before for this. He & I are both willing to die for victory.
Edit: I will fuck Nick’s ass 7 days a week harder than ever before. He will die.